


Warmth in Darkness

by inkst0rm



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness & Explorers of Sky
Genre: M/M, Partner name is Shirau, Player name is Sky, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29211720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkst0rm/pseuds/inkst0rm
Summary: Grovyle had always known his mission would fail, just as he had from the moment he pushed Dusknoir back into the future. His sacrifice saved the past... but in the future, he was faced with a strange and unusual prospect: working with his sworn enemy, while he still had time.(set during special episode 5)
Relationships: Juptile | Grovyle/Yonoir | Dusknoir (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Warmth in Darkness

_I remember everything._

_The day I lost Sky._

_Travelling to the past with her. I know what happened._

_Sky and I had promised Celebi that we would return with the Time Gears, and that we would save the future, before it happened. Even if it meant watching both of us ebb away. I vaguely remember her human form: one of the last on the planet, she had a height advantage over me, and she could communicate with Celebi and I, and understood Dusknoir, the Sableye, and even Primal Dialga. She was an expert._

_And then she got whisked away during our separation, woke up on the beach, and became friends with a Riolu named Shirau. She joined a guild with him, fought through it all, even saw me as a villain while I hunted for Time Gears in her place. I had no idea it was her._

_She and Shirau almost stopped me at Crystal Cave. Azelf's crystals and Dusknoir's meddling would've stopped me anyway, but I regret doing so much harm to that little Riolu. He was badly injured when Dusknoir captured me._

_Then the "great explorer himself" dragged them into the portal. With me. And I saw Sky's eyes. They glowed with fear that I recognized as hers, and I knew she could understand me even more than she had before. We escaped and pushed for the past again, so we could stop this future from happening... we made it all the way to the Hidden Land. Shirau's little relic had awoken the stoneship to Temporal Tower too._

_Dusknoir guilt tripped her. He told Sky that she would never see me again, and planned to drag her back in so she couldn't uphold our promise. He was ready to attack, but I... I shielded her, for the last time._

_I said my final goodbye to Sky. Even though he insisted on taking me down. We were going back to the future, whether we liked it or not, and I said goodbye to Shirau too. He promised me he would protect Sky, for however long it took, until I could see her again. Somewhere._

_I threw the Time Gears onto the ground and told them to put them in the tower, so I'd never have to see Primal Dialga again. Time is in their hands... just as it's in mine, in the future._

_I'm awake._ He groaned, a long, hardened sigh that escaped his body. _I'm back in the future. I'm alive... somehow._ He sat up, then lifted a hand to his face, running over the leaf on his head. His yellow gaze flicked for a moment, then he spotted the collapsed phantom's body slumped onto the ground. "Dusknoir!" His eyes moved away, and he rotated his head for a moment. "This is still the future... it's still awful." He stood, slowly, carefully, the soreness of struggle and a lash on his body almost being too much for him. "This world... it's still in darkness."

He gazed back at Dusknoir, hearing a low growl. "We're still here. They haven't changed history yet..." Guilt prodded at his throat for a moment. _Did Sky and Shirau... did they fail?? No, no, no, they're both strong, they couldn't have... could they? No. They just haven't done it yet. They have time._ His body ached, and he leaned onto a knee, one webbed hand pressed into the rock under him. _Unlike this world._ "Gyuh..."

He closed his eyes and winced, but heard skittering around nearby, and half-opened one pained eye to spot a singular Sableye roaming around. "S-Sableye!" The jewel-eyed gaze of the tiny gremlin widened as it flinched, and it let out a tiny, nervous laugher of recognition before skittering away just as fast as it had come. "Damn... they found me already... Primal Dialga..." He pushed up, turning to head towards the cave entrance behind him. "I've got to go -"

He paused as he felt a cool chill over his neck, glancing over at Dusknoir as the phantom pressed off of his hands and stood. A low moan escaped from the ghost-type, and Grovyle's eyes widened with a stab of fear in his stomach. He turned, the cycloptic eye glaring, and barked, "Grovyle!" His voice rose, maddening with an anger that sent even more fear into the gecko's body. "You... you!"

He charged forward, and Grovyle prepared himself for the hit - only to open his eyes again after a moment to hear him panting again, back down onto his invisible knees. "Ugh!"

"Looks like our brawl back there left you with some injuries as well." The fear released, leaving Grovyle back with his determined, yet cunning, stare. "You take it easy. It's not worth worsening them."

"Y-you - agh!" The glare didn't break his yellow stare. "This... this world... this is still the future?" He chuckled to himself, a low, upset chuckle that wracked his whole frame. "I should've known I'd be back here again." His chuckle changed, a lighter, but disappointed tone now. "Heheh... I lost to you, didn't I, Grovyle? You and Sky... I wasn't - no, I couldn't get in your way... heheh..." The gecko stared back, a nonexistent eyebrow raising in confusion. "But... Grovyle, why are we still here?" His injuries seemed to bother him again, and he fell back onto an invisible knee. "I just... I just don't want to disappear."

"But you saw the world of the past. You were _selfish_ in going back there, just to try to get your life back." The grass-type chuckled to himself. "You knew you would fade away anyway. Yet you and I still got to admire the past... in separate times, of course, but still. A natural, gentle breeze. A sunrise over the water. But there's not a future here." His tone changed, darker, hopeless. "It's enough to break your heart." Although they were enemies...

He came to the phantom's side, placing one of his webbed hands on the rings on his arms. "I don't want to disappear either, but if history changing means that there _is_ a future, in that beautiful world... I am willing to sacrifice my life for that future." He thought of Sky, and of Shirau. _The promise._ "Even if we disappeared, it would be for everyone's sake. Sky. Shirau. All of the guild members, and the lake guardians, and the residents of that little town. They could have a future." He pulled Dusknoir up, then continued. "The life that we provide through out sacrifice... it would be worth it."

"The future... the lives we saved..."

"Sky and I were on a team, y'know?" Grovyle had pulled away at this point, heading to the grayed Kangaskhan statue. "We assisted with investigations. We learned that everyone, except for very few with shriveled empathy... well, they were all in agreement. They wanted things to change. So we wouldn't be stuck in this future." He turned, blinking an exhausted gaze. "Do the right thing and give up."

The phantom didn't respond, just watched as he leaped towards the cave entrance. "Where will you go, Grovyle?"

He turned. "One of your Sableye spotted me while you groaned awake. Your failure is probably being told to Primal Dialga as we speak." He shivered. "Which means... Plan B. A new agent, in your place, but until then, it needs to store power to do so." He turned back. "So I'm going to fight him. So that he can't do that again, so that someone like Sky can stay united." He glanced back over his shoulder. "I'm going to Temporal Tower. I'll take it on, then..."

"Do you really think you can defeat Mastar Dialga on your own?" Dusknoir called, interrupting him. "You and I both know your wounds are heavy. You would have to be in perfect shape, otherwise you're asking to be killed. You'll never win like this."

The concern caught the gecko off guard for a moment. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I know I won't. Not until Sky and Shirau can change the future. Until things start to change around here... I want to give them time, so I can have hope." His tone was cold, and he prepared to dash into the dungeon. "Stay out of my way." He hopped away, into the darkness of the cave, leaving Dusknoir behind...

The phantom thought for a moment. "No... I won't let you do that!" He almost dashed off himself, but - "Agh!" His wounds burned. "Ugh... can't move... but..." He pushed himself up again, feeling the stinging increase. "He can't just do as he pleases!" Slowly, he meandered his way into the dungeon, determined to catch up with the grass-type, and a single, constant thought bubbled.

_I'm doing this so that Master Dialga will trust me again._


End file.
